29. NFL Stats & Christmas Chats: James Cook, the Hot AFC Race & Holiday Games

0:22I'm Victoria. I'm Giovanna. The game's on. Welcome back to another episode of your favorite football podcast by the girls for everyone. The game, holiday edition. If you celebrate, Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate, well, we're glad to be in your ears, on your walk, working out, living your life, whatever you're doing today. I am in Hawaii. By the time you're hearing this, we're about to be in Hawaii. Giovanna, you're in Texas. Oh yeah. Keeping it, holding it down in Dallas. Holding it down in Dallas. Do you have any like traditions or holiday plans, things you do every year? So it's funny.

1:06Cause like, this is the one year that we're not doing it. My mom and I always pick a destination to go to and travel to over the holidays. And so that's a good tradition because she hates being in Texas. Cause it's like not Christmas over here. It's like 70 degrees today and i'm like like i'm running errands this morning and i'm wearing like long sleeve sweatshirt and my sweatpants and i'm sweating and it's two days it's well right now we're recording this it's two days before christmas and i'm like okay that's fun but other than that not not really what about you we started doing the trip thing maybe three years ago because we were just spending so much money on presents and stressing out about it we were like why don't we just go somewhere?

1:52And everyone in my family loves to travel. If you guys have been following me, you know that I'm everywhere all the time. And I honestly consider travel a value to me. It's in my values that mean a lot to me and keep me really happy in life. So it's so fun. So yeah, this year we're going to Hawaii, out to Maui, and it's going to be a great time. And then I have separated parents or divorced parents. So I see my dad and my bonus mom tonight. Actually, it's the 23rd when we're recording and we don't really like to cook at that house. So we're getting Italian food, which I'm kind of like a traditional, like I'm kind of like a sappy girl.

2:31So I feel like I'm kind of surprised that I love like more untraditional things these days. And maybe when I have kids, if I have kids, it'll be different. But I just like that. Like there's no kids in my family. So it's just like all adults. And we're just like, what are we going to do this year? Like, what do you guys feel like? Which is fun. I mean, I'm sure, yeah, once if I have kids or someone else has kids, like maybe that'll change a little bit. But for now we're just like living life, enjoying going to Hawaii. So if you guys are celebrating happy holidays, if you are someone who is missing someone on the holidays, just know that we love you and feel free to hop in the chat, hang out with us.

3:09There are games going on all day today. So we're going to do our breakdown of like predictions for those and kind of outlook for those at the end of the episode. This is our stats episodes. We're diving a little bit deeper into players, numbers, NFC versus AFC outlook, and all of the dirty details, more X's and O's than on our Tuesday show, which if you haven't listened to, it was ins and outs for week 16. And honestly, It was one of my favorite to record. So make sure that you go back and listen to that. If you want to check in with us during the day, the Game of the Podcast on socials and the Game of the Podcast dot substack dot com.

3:51Join the chat and hang out with us. Without further ado, let's get into it. Four Downs in Stats Town. First down, the Stat King who is dominating right now, which is our spotlight on a player statistically owning the league. we are going with mr james cook yeah this one was interesting this week and i saw something on social media that was saying whenever josh allen isn't carrying the team james cook is right behind him carrying a team on his back and there's been lots of things with hero ball and the bills and josh allen as of lately josh allen had his worst game of the season this past week so it Wasn't a good look at it was against the Browns, which was really interesting, but the Browns, they don't have a bad defense, but Josh Allen threw for a total of 130 yards.

4:43He was sacked two times, completed 12 by 19, which is, is it too bad, but he didn't throw a single touchdown, but that was okay because James Cook with a whopping 117 yards, two touchdowns on 16 carries. That was his sixth straight game with a hundred plus yards. So again, if Josh Allen isn't going to step up to the plate, James Cook does. And he has been pretty dominant this full season in the running back category. There's not many running backs that I would put ahead of him right now based on this single season alone. So he's been cooking. He's no pun intended. Literally. No pun intended. If you're wondering like, okay, is 100 yards like really that good?

5:32Like 90 yards is above average, a hundred yards or more in a single game. Rushing is pretty freaking good. And if you're hitting one 20, that's some animal behavior. Yeah. You know, if you're getting up to like one 50, 200, we like barely ever see that. Yeah. Yeah. And James cook, what I like about him is he's consistent and he's reliable. So even if he's not breaking headlines every week, he's doing his job every week. And if you guys have been listening, you know, I like love, I love a person who just says, just does their job. And James Cook is kind of that guy and really is like we talk so much about Josh Allen playing hero ball, but Josh Allen could always rely on James Cook to like make a play to run the ball, even through a tougher defense like James Cook knows what he's doing.

6:18I think he's a little bit less flashy than some other running backs compared to Derrick Henry or Jameer Gibbs or Christian McCaffrey, he's a little bit less flashy, but I think that his benefit does come in his reliability. Six games straight, six in a row, when the Bills really needed them with 100 yards is super impressive. It's a big reason why they've been winning games the way they've been winning games, and especially not to negate the fact that the Bills have come back in a lot of these games in huge deficits. So shout out to James Cook. Literally cooking. Yeah, the Bills have literally been like, we should test ourselves.

6:58Like how uncomfortable can we get where we can still win? How uncomfortable can we get before Josh Allen's like, look, I can't do it guys anymore. There's just no way. Yeah. Before Josh Allen gets in the locker room and he's like, what the hell is going on here? No, literally. I don't, I don't know. It was probably, probably a lot for Josh Allen to, to give up. Honestly. Yeah. Yeah. Moving on to another player, kind of notable mention in the league right now, Trevor Lawrence. Talked about this on Tuesday, but snapped the Broncos 11 game win streak, has scored 25 points eight weeks in a row, 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions since week 13.

7:45You guys know that some stats like make me annoyed. I'm like, they're like, before he turns 24, he did this. And I'm like, this is so crazy. And like, what a niche stat that like someone just pulled out. But I do love the comparisons, especially this season of like weeks zero through 10 and 10 through 16, et cetera. Or when there's like a big difference, we saw one of those with the Colts, Jonathan Taylor last night, his touchdowns in the first, what it was like weeks one to eight or something. And then weeks eight to 16 and the difference there. But Trevor Lawrence, 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions since week 13, so week 13 to 16.

8:28And he ranks first in total quarterback rating 92 and total touchdowns 10 and fourth in pass yards 609 in the last two games. So just absolutely annihilating it. I feel like he kind of came out of nowhere in playoff contention, in fame, in praise, in honestly just success rate. Last year was rough. Whatever Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence have going on together is like very much working. Like it's giving Dan Campbell and Jared Goff when they hit their stride. what's crazy to me is that this is you mentioned the comparison between the weeks but talk about the comparison between the years with Trevor Lawrence 2024 he had four wins then they go and get the second overall pick Travis Hunter who is an amazing one-of-a-kind player who plays on both sides of the ball defense and offense came from Colorado actually played with Shader Sanders so So he was a huge pickup for Jacksonville.

9:33Then he gets injured, is placed on the IR. So they lose their go-to guy. And they have still been dominant in 2025 with a bunch of wins. I mean, they were literally a four and 13 record last season. So they're already doing really good. And what I love about Jacksonville is I feel like they're peaking at the right time. Like this is the perfect time to ramp up and get going, get Trevor so confident in his ability to sling the rock, pass the ball, make plays with his receivers and everything. And that team, Travis Etienne has been really good for them running back of the Jacksonville Jaguars. So I'm excited for them.

10:15We'll talk about their playoff implications and our next down, but I'm excited for them. And I think they're going to do some great things in the playoffs this year. Yeah, I agree. So fun to watch. I feel like he almost stole the show. We're like, let's talk about James Cook. And then we're like, actually. Trevor, Trevor. Trevor. We also have some updated season leaders, a new pass leader and a new rushing leader. Passing was Dak Prescott this week. Matt Stafford, 4 ,179 passing yards. I mean, he's just playing lights out. And there's really nothing to say about it. He's just playing lights out.

10:53I think it is thanks to Puka Nakua being able to catch pretty much anything that goes up into the air. But you can't fight this stat. And even if you go just on vibes, like it still checks out. That's like Victoria's hair thing. Victoria and I were talking about this last night. We were like, you know, based on just vibes, what were we saying? We were like, I feel like we could build like, we're talking about fantasy or something. oh oh yeah we were well we what were we saying i don't know i feel like i feel like my vibes just don't do me wrong like oh yeah if you do fantasy based on vibes instead of on projection it's pretty much oh we were talking about betting we were talking about betting and we were saying if you bet based on vibes instead of on whatever like numbers that you're reading on the internet we would probably win like 70 of the time versus if you like read many stats then you're gonna like lose like more than half the time.

11:54Yeah. And honestly, I'll stick to that. And if anybody wants to give me money to test it, let's see what happens. She said, thank you. I don't bet money, but I do bet. I do bet on like activities or like some type of like something else. And that's how I became a Lions fan. Another story for another time. A story for another time. But I did become a Lions fan because I lost a bet in pool and I'm horrible at pool. Okay. Rushing leader is who we were just talking about. Mr. Cook with 1 ,532 rushing yards and then receiving Jackson Smith and Jigba 1 ,637 yards. I do want to put out a really crazy stat in here though, is Christian McCaffrey is nearly going on his second 1 ,000 season.

12:51So 1 ,000 rushing, 1 ,000 receiving yards. He's 152 yards away with two games to go. That, it is impressive if a wide receiver gets to 1 ,000 yards. Like 1 ,000 yards is like, that's good. And if you're getting to 1 ,000 rushing and passing, like you were on the last night, you were like, whatever he got in his leg in Europe is working. yeah i mean holy moly and it's all it's it's amazing to see because cmc was like i want to say injury prone but like you know he was maddened first because he's on the madden cover so that that was happening and then you know he wasn't always on the 49ers but him now joining this team he has been especially after a really crazy injury he has been really dominant and i love that for him because he deserves he deserves everything and more and it's crazy because people were like doubting him like going into fantasy jobs people were like i don't know if i want to draft cmc high because i don't know what he's going to do this season after you know his injury well pretty good you're all wrong well also like what an insane thing to say because these guys get rehabbed so much they come back and we forget their injury ever happened yeah like unless it's like unless it's like a hutchinson or a scataboo like i feel like most guys come back and like we We don't really talk about it anymore.

14:13Like they're just fine. Yeah. Especially if they're, well, I thought we don't talk about it when they're performing well, but if a player comes back from injury and they kind of have a slump, but then it's like, Oh, the injury really messed them up. But that's like, they might just be having a bad season. Um, but don't ask me how I really feel. Um, all right, let's move on. second down conference check-in NFC versus AFC outlook. The AFC is still wide open, like battle for the one seed in the AFC South Broncos, Pats, Jags, Chargers, Bills, Texans, AFC West title still up for grabs. Jags could be the number one seed.

15:00So let's break it down. Yeah, so the AFC West title is where I want to hone it on because I feel like this is the most, not controversial, but it's kind of the most interesting right now because you have two really good teams. And one thing to know about the AFC, in my opinion, is I feel like it kind of swapped. I feel like the NFC was up for grabs and there was a lot of spots, but now I feel like the AFC is really up for grabs and there's a lot of spots. With the NFC kind of being locked up, there's only like two spots left in there for playoff implications. But going back to the AFC West title, so there's a huge, big Week 18 game between the Broncos and Chargers.

15:38The Broncos do have a one-game advantage over the Chargers right now. Broncos 12-3, Chargers 11-4. In order for the Chargers to get the division, they have to win out. Their schedule is the Texans and the Broncos. If they do that, they would have a season sweep. They'd get the division. They'd have a tiebreaker against the Broncos. And they would get the home game. however the Broncos also need to win out which you know they go and play the Chiefs and the Chargers they need to win out they'll get the AFC West and lock up the number one overall seed so that again that big week 18 game between the Chargers and Broncos is going to decide a lot between which team wins the division which team gets that number one overall seed and much more However, Jacksonville, we just talked about them.

16:28The Jags could also get the number one seed if they went out the rest of the season, which very easy schedule. And unfortunately, I have to say easy for the Colts because the 49ers just walked in and dominated them. So the Jags would go to play the Colts and then the Titans. And we know who the Titans are, just enough said. The Broncos will have to lose to the Chiefs or the Chargers, which is a possibility losing to the Chargers. and the Patriots would have to lose one more game. Their schedule, they have Jets and then Dolphins. So Jets have a little bit more to overcome, not absolutely out of the picture.

17:04But when it comes down to this AFC West title, I think I'm going to go with the Chargers on this one. Okay. I think I'm going to go with the Chargers. Okay. I mean, there's, okay, the thing about this, like you just said, Like it, we felt like it was wide open for a second and now it's such a tight race. And so I feel like there's no team that I'm like, hate. And there's no team that I'd be like upset or feel like is undeserving of the number one. So I feel like I'm really like not feeling that passionate about it because I don't know though, if the charger, if I think the chargers can beat the Broncos.

17:46The only reason why I think the Chargers could beat the Broncos is because they had a really dominant game against the Cowboys, which isn't saying a lot, but it's still saying something. And the Broncos have lost back-to-back weeks in the Packers and the Jags. I think the Chargers are a better team than the Packers and the Jags. So, yeah, that's why I say I think that the Chargers can go in there and make seven shake, especially because like Justin Herbert has been has been really good to the season. And as of lately, so I don't know. Yeah, no, I think it's so crazy because I kind of believe in the Texans.

18:34So, you know how I feel about the Texans. i have questions i have questions i don't know about that off you can't i don't know about that offense you can't almost lose the ratings guys this late in the season too that's kind of scary maybe that's scary i know but i just i kind of like i i can't even make a prediction i feel like usually i'm pretty like this is how i feel yeah i don't know like trevor lawrence cutie boy love him would be happy for that bo nicks what a cool story justin herber it's just been kicking for quite a while like chargers have been like trekking through mud i feel like they're they're moving but they're not comfortable and now they're like kind of hanging out so yeah i don't know i can't my gut is telling me it's not the chargers to lock up the afc west like i think the broncos are going to be the Chargers in week 18.

19:32We'll see. Maybe should we bet on it? Yeah, should we bet a bottle of wine? A bottle of Crown Apple? You buy me a bottle of wine or I'll buy you a bottle of Crown Apple? Bet. Okay, cool. We want to thank our sponsor at Kuso Cuts. If you missed getting someone in your life a Christmas gift, well, you can get them a New Year's gift from Cusso's Fresh Great Seasonings. I just got home from traveling, which means I now have my full stock of Cusso's seasonings back at my full disposal use. Disposal is probably not the right word, but my full use. And I'm very, very excited about that. They have a lot of seasoning blends.

20:21So it's not just like an oregano. It's an Italian blend. They have really fun names. They have one called Dirt. So kind of sexy, interesting manly names that just really zhuzh up your cooking and eating experience. So if you want 10 % off your order, which who doesn't, use code the game at checkout, or you can go to kusocuts.com slash the game. And that is C-U-S-O-C-U-T-S dot com slash the game. And if you use our code, it's the game, all one word, lowercase at checkout. It really supports us and helps us bring you great content here at the game. Okay, back to the show. Okay, let's go into the NFC.

21:06Two spots are available. The Seahawks, Bears, Rams, 49ers, and Eagles have all clinched their playoff spots. I do have a hot take before we get to the rest of it I think we have to stop talking shit on the Eagles oh no I know like I they're there they're there they've like made it to where they are they are the Eagles they have the easiest and this is like me like they have the easiest division and the NFC because you have the Cowboys, the Commanders, and the Giants. So winning your division, it's not hard. It's not a – okay, that's so fair. Winning the NFC is not hard. That sucks for me to say being a Cowboys fan, but it isn't hard.

21:55The Eagles are sitting at 10-5, and then the Cowboys are 6-8. Commanders 4-11. Giants 2-13 playing for the first pick. So it's just not hard. When you look at the NFC North, holy moly. Bears 11-4, Packers 9-5. Lions 8-7, Vikings. It's not even close. NFC West, like the Seahawks, 49ers, and the Rams are not even close. So it's not surprising to me. I'm not going to say it. I would agree with you on, like, the hate for the Eagles because they're a good football team. But have they played the Super Bowl champions? Heck no. No. No. But I just think that, like, they're in the playoffs. playoffs we're gonna watch them and like they're there and frankly my team isn't so I feel like I gotta throw some respect on their name it's like the worst you know how we always talk about like you know wins a win I feel like the Eagles are like the worst example so annoying yeah like the most annoying example of like a win is a win it's so sad but you know Speaking of the Rams, their points per game is 30.5, and they are leading the league with that stat line of points per game.

23:12So I think that's very telling. You know, it's Matthew Stapper, Puka Nikula, Linkup, and how they're winning games, and the points that they're putting up on the board. We got to talk about the Lions, though. I can't let you skate back. We got to talk about the Lions. Okay, we do have to talk about the Lions, but you know what I just realized? whatever day we were talking. I don't know if this was on the show or off the show. I think it was on the show. But I said that you are a defense is the best offense girl. But that's not true. You're an offense is the best offense girl. You are an offense wins games girl, not a defense wins games girl.

23:50And this just occurred to me. It's like it depends on the team though. You know? All right. It's flip. I feel like it switches. Depends on my vibe.

24:05okay well one team with bad vibes is it's not bad vibes yet but we're we're definitely running in that direction the Detroit Lions 16 percent chance to make it into the playoffs after their loss to the Steelers the Lions had 16 total rushing yards with arguably the best running back in the league. Jameer gives seven carries and two yards. Like the Steelers are good, but not that good. Yeah. What? Yeah, it was a bad game. And I know we talked about those late OPI calls in the fourth quarter in our episode earlier this week. But Dan Campbell came out and said on a press conference and was like, yeah, those calls sucked.

24:58But I will always stand 10 toes down with, obviously, being a Cowboys fan, like Dez definitely caught it in our game. So those situations are always hard. The first offensive pass interference call, I believe, was false. That shouldn't have been a call. But the second call that resulted in, you know, the end of the game was pretty textbook by book. However, though, the Lions were, that whole game, it just looked... Amon Ra and Williams didn't even get involved in the game much. It was like the test loss show for a lot of it. Shouts to him. I think he's a great player. But when you look at a lot of the weapons, Jameer Gibbs, Amon Ra, Williams, they weren't being utilized as much.

25:44I know this kind of goes back to, you know, the play calling and things of that nature because, you know, Dan can't be a head coach and he's taking over the offensive play calling and that nature. But to also that effect, which we've alluded to this on the show, the absence of Ben Johnson is, I feel like it's now really, really being felt on this Lions team, which sucks. yeah and I mean I I think that it's validating that the Bears won the NFC North because it shows how much of a loss it was to the Lions versus if the Lions were losing and the Bears were losing and be like what is going on but it's very clear what's going on yeah that game was tough to walk.

26:36Like, I feel like one thing about the Lions that like I can't quite figure out is like when the Lions are good, they are freaks. Absolute animals. You see crazy plays, crazy catches, crazy momentum and then they become like they don't become bad. They just become like the most mid team you've ever watched. That's how you feel about the Cowboys. Every year. Like they're not they're not getting blown out. They're just like any other seven and 17 walking down the road? Like I can't figure out why. And I don't think that they can figure out why either, which is, I think why they have their problems.

27:16But yeah, I think that their chances, I believe it's like they have to win out and the Packers have to lose out with some other help. I mean, I don't have any, my faith in Packers is dead. We talked about Malik Willis earlier this week and I love talking about him and I made it real about him this morning. Like it was just a clip from us. And that's like an exciting storyline to me. But I also like think the Packers could lose out. So nothing's impossible. Yeah, nothing's impossible. I do want to note that if you don't, if you don't remember why the number one seed is important, the advantages for a number one seed is a first round buy.

27:59So you skip wildcard weekend and home field advantage through divisional and conference championship rounds. You're facing lower seeds first, more rest and recovery, and huge help for injury prevention. So facts-wise, you're getting to play home games. You have a break with wild card weekend. You're locked in, so you don't have the anxiety of wild card weekend. And then you're playing at home, plus you do have that break. So injury prevention, reset, all of that. And the easier opponents is really A big factor too Which at that point I feel like especially how this season is going I don't think there's going to be An easier opponent Because any team can play Up to any level At this point when we get in the postseason Yeah Number one seeds have won Roughly half the Superbowl is when they've secured the top spot Okay That feels like a mediocre stat Yep.

28:58Had that one in my bucket of stats I don't care about. Okay. Moving on. And that's what I get for using chat GPT mid episode. We do have notes that we use that are fact checked and curated, but sometimes you got to pull up chat GPT. You know what I'm saying? Also, if you're a young person, chat GPT is not research. Let's, let's just clear that up. All right. Go to a research university. It'll go forever. Don't cheat on your exams. Yeah. Okay. What's interesting this week? Stats meet storylines. Derek Henry talked about him being a flashier running back, scored a touchdown, giving the Ravens an 11 point lead in the fourth quarter, but he didn't get a single carry the rest of the game.

29:43Yeah, this was a big button topic. And I had to mention this because talk about interesting storylines out of the week. Derrick Henry fumbled earlier this season. And it was a huge deal because he's not known to fumble. Like he's not a fumbler. And I feel like, fumbler. But I feel like looking at these fumbles, like you can't always say that the running back sucks when somebody fumbles. why aren't we talking about wow that was a really good play by the defense to punch the ball out like there are some things that like you as running back like protecting the ball is your number one priority but like why i feel like the the energy and the focus is always on the running back fumbling the ball on these scenarios derrick henry fumbling the ball and not great job 91 on going after the ball and getting a turnover for our team so that's that uh the raven should have won this game absolutely should have won this game Lamar Jackson goes out in the game you have a backup quarterback coming in he wasn't terrible but in total Derrick Henry scored two touchdowns in that game and arguably is one of the better players if not the best players on this Raven teams especially when Lamar Jackson their quarterback is not in the game and you tell me he's averaging seven yards per carry and he didn't play a single snap of the rest of the game in the fourth quarter that doesn't make sense to me but that's weird that is weird yeah like what is actually going on here because i am sensing something fishy i'm sensing something fishy and it was also zay flowers what he was the leading receiver in the game he started off really hot he had some receptions 84 yards but he had a huge frumble at the very end of the game in the fourth quarter like late late late which i'm not gonna say cost in the game but was pretty costly for the ravens offense and then mark andrews i don't know if you saw this clip or if you watch the game mark andrews catches the ball essentially not he didn't even catch the ball was immediately getting tackled he kind of ran for a little bit and then he gets tackled by a defender he stretches his arm out that have the ball in it stretches it out and like just throws it just let's go to the ball.

32:03This happened like at halftime almost, but I'm watching it. I'm like, what are you doing? Like that, what are you doing? That was insane to me. So there was a lot of very fishy things happening in that game. The Ravens had the most losses with the seven points lead in the fourth quarter in the last five seasons. And that's 12 losses. So I just put after that stat line in our notes, I'm looking at the head coach and I'm looking at their coaching staff because those losses, when you have guys like Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson and don't get me started with the Ravens roster because it's kind of similar to the Bills in my opinion, but you have guys like Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, you should be winning games, especially when you have leads going into the fourth quarter.

32:51That's unacceptable. Unacceptable. Period. I have nothing to add. Period. I have nothing to add.